1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a hybrid car having an internal combustion engine, and a battery powered electric drive motor, and having a system which recovers the heat energy usually rejected to the atmosphere from the internal combustion heat cycle, and recovers the kinetic energy from relative movements between the vehicle wheels and the chassis frame which is usually damped in the shock absorbers, to produce useful electric power for storage in an electric battery, and to operate the vehicle's electric drive motors.
2. Description of Prior Art
The continuing increases in the cost of fossil fuel, and the increased environmental concerns have forced global attention on a variety of energy-conserving, and energy-generating technologies which were previously difficult to be economically justified. The major automotive manufacturers in the U.S.A., and in Japan, had aggressive programs for developing new advanced electric driven vehicles having higher efficiencies, and improved electric batteries.
In the past, many extensive attempts have been made to achieve potential fuel consumption savings for gasoline and diesel fueled vehicles through use of methods to recapture the waste heat energy usually rejected into the atmosphere from the engine cooling fluid, and from the hot exhaust gas stream. Many other attempts were also made to recover the waste kinetic energy usually dissipated in the shock absorbers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,077 disclosed a system where a gas turbine is actuated by recovering the heat from the exhaust gas stream. U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,200, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,850 disclosed systems utilizing evaporative fluid for cooling the engine block, and utilizing the recovered heat to operate an air conditioning system using ejector means for compression. U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,157 disclosed a system for power generating and air conditioning utilizing waste heat from an internal combustion engine to heat and pressurize gas working fluid employed for a power cycle. U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,849 disclosed a system utilizing an evaporative fluid to recover waste heat from the engine lubricating oil and from the hot exhaust gas stream. Many other systems were invented to generate power by capturing and utilizing the physical relative movements of the vehicle wheels and chassis frame. U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,204 disclosed a shock absorber using rack and pinion gear assembly to drive electric generators, U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,781 disclosed an electric generating system utilizing the relative movements of the vehicle frame, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,041 disclosed another electric power generating system utilizing the superfluous movements of the vehicle. However, none of the above prior art attempts, individually or collectively, proposed the system and embodiments indicated and disclosed by the present invention.
It is, therefore, a principle object of the present invention to increase the fuel economy of gasoline or diesel fueled vehicles.
It is further a principle object of the present invention to provide an energy recovery system for a hybrid car which has both internal combustion engine, and battery driven electric motor drive.
It is further a principle object of the present invention to utilize the waste low temperature heat usually rejected in the engine cooling fluid, and in the exhaust gas stream to generate useful electric power.
It is further an object of the present invention to utilize the relative mechanical movements between the vehicle wheels and chassis frame which is usually absorbed by the shock absorbers, to generate useful electric power.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a high efficiency hybrid automotive vehicle system having manual and automatic operating controls to allow selection of the drive for the best possible operating efficiency at either high speed long range highway driving, or at low speed intermittent city driving.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide an automotive vehicle system which conserves energy, and reduces the vehicle's potential environmental impact.
The invented hybrid car system provides a solution for the shortcomings of the electric driven car, more specifically, the limited storage capacity of the electric battery, short battery life, short driving range, and low speed and torque output. Also, providing a solution for the shortcomings of the gasoline or diesel fueled vehicles, more specifically, the increased fuel consumption, and increased exhaust gas emissions at idle and low speed operating conditions.
These objects and others which will become apparent from the following detailed descriptions and drawings are fulfilled by incorporating a heat exchange system to recover waste heat energy from the engine cooling fluid, and from the engine exhaust gas stream, and by utilizing the waste kinetic energy usually absorbed by the shock absorbers, to operate a hermetically sealed gas expander-electric generator unit, and to produce useful electric power for charging a battery and driving the vehicle.
While the present invention has particular usefulness in connection with an automotive vehicle, the invented system can be employed with other gasoline or diesel fueled internal combustion engines for many applications, including passenger cars, buses, trucks, marine vessels, and stationary power generating engines. The invented electric power generating system may be added to an existing installation, without the need to modify the basic design of the internal combustion engine.